Hay handling apparatus



March 20, 1951 GQAD 2,546,094

HAY HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIHIIIIUIIIIIIIIHHIHII Sherman Goad INVENTOR.

March 20, 1951 s. GOAD 2,546,094

HAY HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

3 4 \6 F6 I W 24 4 i 62 I 25% 3 4s 5a 32 52 44 g a I III Sherman Goad. 62 56 INVENTOR.

BY w%m; Maw-m Patented Mar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,546,094 nAY HANDLING APPARATUS Sherman Goad, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application September 17, 1948, Serial No. 49,821

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to material handling apparatus and more particularly to an assembly including a hay fork, flexible cables and a track mounted upon a barn, together with a motor operated Windlass.

A primary object of this invention is to provide means wherebyone man may operate a hay fork in unloading hay from a wagon and elevating the hay into the barn.

Another object of this invention is to provide hay handling apparatus in which a dual drum Windlass is operatively connected with a system of flexible cables whereby the hay fork can be returned after carrying its load into the barn, and the load can be tripped at any desired point along the track used to support a trolley and ordinarily disposed along the top of the barn.

Still another object of this invention is to provide hay handling apparatus in which a minimum of equipment and a minimum length of flexible cable is required to satisfactorily perform the functions required of the apparatus.

And a last object to be mentioned specifically is to provide hay handling apparatus which is practicable and economical to manufacture, which is safe, convenient and easy to operate, and which will give generally efficient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter de scribed in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a barn with a track and trolley mounted thereon, together with a hay fork and the other elements of this invention operatively associated therewith;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the structure illustrated in Figure 1, and;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the dual drum Windlass and the motor to drive the same, the figure being fragmentary in character and portions being broken away to show the underlying structure in vertical section.

Similar characters of reference designate similar-or identical portions in the different views of the drawings and throughout the specification.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this invention is adapted to be used with an environment including a barn having vertical end walls ill, one of these walls being apertured as indicated at II, a roof 12 with an extending portion 14 above and beyond the apertured portion H of the end wall IE], together with a track I6 rigidly mounted upon the roof [2 and extending portion Id. The environment also includes a trolley it which will be provided with wheels 20 to travel upon the track It, and another pulley 22 disposed on the lower side of the trolley, together with a hay fork generally indicated by the numeral 23 and having a pulley 24.

A. flexible cable 26 is terminally secured to the trolley It and entrained through the pulley 24 on the hay fork, through the pulley 22 on the trolley and another pulley 28 mounted on the end of the track It within the barn, and finally returned over still another pulley 30 mounted above and adjacent to the aperture II in the wall Ill of the barn, the other end of the cable 25 being secured to a drum 32 in the Windlass which is generally indicated by the numeral 34.

A trip rope 3B, which may of course be any type of flexible cable, is terminally and operatively secured to the hay fork 23 and is led over sheaves or pulleys 38 and 40 mounted upon the outer end of the extending portion [4 and this triprope 36 is then led through still another pulley 42, preferably mounted upon the end wall ID of the barn and terminally secured to the other drum 44 of the dual drum Windlass 34.

The Windlass is adapted to be powered by a motor 46 which is represented as being an electric motor controllable by the operator and adapted to drive the common drive shaft 48 of the Windlass, through reduction gears 50. A double plate clutch 52 is operatively mounted between the drums 32 and 44, and a clutch operating yoke 54 and handle 56 are used to allow the temporary driving connection of the drive shaft 48 with either one of the drums 32 and 44 according to conventional practice.

A brake drum 58 is provided on the drum 32 and a resilient brake band 60, or equivalent brake structure, is associated with this brake drum 58, as best illustrated in Figure 3, so that a cable 62 may be pulled downwardly to apply braking action to the drum 32.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to be achieved by this invention. In recapitulation, it may be pointed out that the cables 26 and 36 will, of course, be wound in opposite directions upon the drums 32 and 44,

so that the unidirectional operation of the shaft 48 may be used to selectively wind the cable 26 and the trip rope 36 upon the corresponding drum while the other drum is free to rotate, thereby elevating and transmitting a hay fork load of hay into the barn, according to general practice as is well understood, and returning the trolley 18 and hay fork onto the portion of the track carried by the extending portion M of the roof. The operator may then depend upon gravity to lower the hay fork to within his grasp, when both drums 32 and M are released from the drive shaft 48 of the Windlass. Obviously the trip rope 36 will unwind freely from the drum 44 as the hay fork load of hay is elevated and transmittedinto the barn, but the operator may at any time he desires stopthe free run of the rope, since the clutch may be operated to cause the partial rewinding of the trip rope 36 on the drum 44 in order to trip the load carried by the hay fork either immediately within the front apertured Wall of the barn or well Within the barn.

Obviously minor variations may be made in this invention, departing from the embodiment setforth in the drawings and specification but not departing from the spirit of this invention. Accordingly the scope of this invention should be determined only by a proper interpretation of the terms used in the subjoined claims.

Having described the invention, What is claimed as new is:

1. Hay handling apparatus including atrack with a trolley thereon, a Windlass having a pair ofwinding drums, a clutch for selectively engaging said drums with a driving element in said Windlass, a hay fork, a cable having one end connected to said trolley and entrained through pulleys on said hay fork, trolley, and on one end of said track, the other end of said cable being secured to one of said drums, a trip rope operatively connected to the hay fork at one end and entrained through a pulley on the other end of said track, the other end of said trip rope being connected to the otherdrum, and a brake for said one drum, both drums being free to rotate when not engaged by said clutch.

2. Hay handling apparatus including a track with a trolley thereon, a Windlass having a pair of winding drums, a clutch for selectively engaging said drums with a driving element in said Windlass, a hay fork, a cable having one end connected to said trolley and entrained through pulleys on said hay fork, trolley, and on one end of said track, the other end of said cable being secured to one of said drums, a trip rope operatively connected to'the hay fork at one end and entrained through a pulley on the other end of said track, the other end of said trip rope being connected to the other drum, and a brake for said one drum, said driving element comprising a shaft common to both drums, said drums being freely rotatably mounted on said shaft, said cable and trip rope being wound in opposite directions on the drums.

SHERMAN GOAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 708,713 Hunt Sept. 9, 1902 1,021,085 Bailey Mar. 26, 1912 1,229,036 Connor June 5, 1917 1,354,247 Frederickson Sept. 28, 1920 

